Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ.N) is considering a dramatic turn away from the struggling PC business by spinning it off into a separate company and is buying British software maker Autonomy Corp (AUTN.L) for $11.7 billion, focusing on faster-growing technology sectors. Underscoring the problems plaguing what was once its core business, the iconic Silicon Valley company also plans to kill WebOS-based phones and the TouchPad tablet, which was launched in June but has failed to excite consumers. The barrage of news, which forced HP to announce third-quarter earnings an hour early, masked a sharp reduction in HP's estimates for full-year revenue and earnings that sent its shares 6 percent down to a 52-week low. They slid another 7 percent to $27.50 in after-hours trade. HP CEO Leo Apotheker is responding to mounting pressure to fire up growth just as global economic and tech-spending outlooks darken. Like other PC makers, it is struggling to come up with an answer for Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) iPhones and iPads, which are gobbling up PC market share.
Hewlett-Packard Company (HP) is a provider of products, technologies, software, solutions and services to individual consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and large enterprises, including customers in the government, health and education sectors. Shares of HPQ fell by 5.99% or $-1.88/share to $29.51. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $29.75 and as high as $49.39. On average, 21902100 shares of HPQ exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 95390872.
Apple Inc. (Apple) designs, manufactures and markets a range of personal computers, mobile communication and media devices, and portable digital music players, and sells a range of related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications. Shares of AAPL fell by 3.78% or $-14.39/share to $366.05. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $235.56 and as high as $404.50. On average, 18123600 shares of AAPL exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 30375528.
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